Fuel-switching and Deep Decarbonization

Fuel-switching is inevitable to achieve deep decarbonization. This has, inter alia, prompted an increasing number of countries to announce coal phase-out mandates in the power sector. This working paper suggest that, when accounting for stranded assets, a decarbonization pathway that is based on gradual transition to renewable energy and initially retains coal generating assets turns out to be less expensive than a strict coal phase-out.

Competition for Electric Transmission Projects in the U.S.: FERC Order 1000

Professor Paul L. Joskow discusses the provisions of Order 1000, its application by ISOs, and examines the evidence to date regarding the development and application of the competitive transmission procurement model in the U.S in this CEEPR Working Paper.

Machine Learning from Schools about Energy Efficiency

This working paper studies the effectiveness of energy efficiency upgrades in K-12 schools, and demonstrate that the machine learning method outperforms standard panel fixed effects approaches. The authors find that the upgrades deliver only 53% of ex ante expected savings on average, and find a similarly low correlation between school-specific predictions of energy savings and realized savings.

In this paper, researchers find that low-income customers would face bill increases on average in a transition to more economically efficient electricity tariffs. However, they demonstrate that simple changes to fixed charges in two-part tariffs can mitigate these disparities while preserving all, or the vast majority, of the efficiency gains.

Challenges for Wholesale Electricity Markets with Intermittent Renewable Generation at Scale: The U.S. Experience

A paper written by Professor Paul L. Joskow examines the current and likely future effects on wholesale electricity markets and the challenges these markets face due to the rapid expansion of intermittent (or variable) renewable energy, primarily wind and solar, with close to zero marginal generating costs.